Tonight in Denver

After growing up in a rather secular Zionist family, Gilad Atzmon discovered Charlie Parker’s With Strings at seventeen while preparing for his compulsory service in the Israeli Defense Forces. The album blew him away, inspiring him to buy a saxophone and listen to American jazz legends like Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and Hank Mobley. “After one month with a saxophone shoved up my mouth,” Atzmon writes, “my Zionist enthusiasm disappeared completely. Instead of flying choppers behind enemy lines, I started to fantasize about living in NYC, London or Paris.” Atzmon's alto sax chops combine the intensity of John Coltrane with the speed and dexterity of Charlie Parker. Atzmon, who is also a writer and activist, will give a talk on Israel and Palestine at 7 p.m.